(Book series review) After the long war, the Crown of Kings was discovered. It could bring peace. He who wears it shows justice and leadership. But alas, the Crown was stolen!

Sorcery!

The evil Archmage who stole the crown wishes to use it to bind all creatures under his control in the land of Kalkhabad. Will some heroes arise to face him and retrieve the Crown? Our hero, that is, YOU, will have to show courage to challenge the Archmage inside his fortress of Mampang. But the road is long to get there...

In this article, I want to review those books (all four of them) and also review another series of six books below(Double Game). First, the pros and cons of the Sorcery! series:

Pros

• Incredible artwork by John Blanche sets the tone
• Unique and original adventures
• The longest book in the entire publication

Cons

• Very difficult and unforgiving
• Memorise the spells
• Most expensive book in the entire publication
• Nothing exciting on the Character Sheet

The Sorcery! series of books was part of the general "Livres dont vous êtes le héros" publications. The series comprises four books, which can be read individually, in any order, or which can be read all together, as one long story arc. The rules of this book allow you to carry items from one book to the next so it is advantageous and somewhat more enjoyable to read them in their intended order. published in France and Canada by Gallimard in the 1980-90s.

The books were written by Steve Jackson and were translated in French by multiple authors. The cover illustrations as well as the interior illustrations were by John Blanche.

The first book, Shamutanti Hills (fr. Les Collines Maléfiques) was written and illustrated in 1983. In tells the story how you, as an adventurer, depart from your homeland to head towards Mampang.

The second instalment is titled Kharé: Cityport of Traps (fr. La Cité des Pièges). It looks at the events starting when you enter the cityport of Kharé, at the end of the first book. It was written and illustrated in 1984.

The third book, also produced in 1984, The Seven Serpents (fr. Les Sept Serpents), follows the adventurer as he or she must make its way across the "Terres des Fins Fonds", a vast expanse of desert and badlands.

Finally, we get to the last book in the series, written in 1985 and titled The Crown of Kings (fr. La Couronne des Rois). This book is famous for being both the longest of all LDVELH, but also, as a consequence, the most expensive. Also, as I wrote above in the pros and cons, the entire series was difficult and challenging. This means you could typically die because of a bad decision, without knowing in advance. I am exaggerating but it could look like this:

"Do you go left or right?

-I go right.

-Okay, to the right is a deadly gas trap. You suffocate for a minute and then you are dead! Better luck next time."

Overall, the series were famous thanks to the illustrations by John Blanche. It is hard to convey the tone he sets in his book illustrations without showing the pictures. I like to tell a story with illustrations. Here, for a review, it would not be appropriate to post 200 pictures. I took those pictures with my phone. But 200 is about the number of illustrations that are contained in five of those books (the four Sorcery! ones plus "Issel le Guerrier", see below).

The tone is gritty, sad, weird, chaotic. All of those blended together. The walls never seem straight, everything is dirty and small devilish creatures seem to inhabit every corner of the world. Even when out of danger, everything seems so desperate. People steal from each other, are amputated, rats and scary cats abound. Everything is in need of repair. You do not feel welcomed when you save a village. Villagers are suspicious and treachery is rewarded by evil.

So I had to make a choice! With about 40 illustrations in each book, I have selected just Seven to show here. I wanted to illustrate what I've just said but also to show some interesting ones for future references. Here is the art of John Blanche in the world of Kalkhabad:

There is often a sense of misery, of oppression among the local populace that you meet across your travels. More than anything else, reading this series of books is to jump into the world of John Blanche and his fertile imagination.

When death is just around the corner, on the next page, literally, it gives you a sense of fear. When the world that surrounds you seem helpless and corrupt, devoid of any hope, that is when you are truly in this world, immersed as alive in Kalkhabad.

Because if one aspect is true also in his artwork, it is that nature is alive and well. All sorts of creatures live everywhere. Often small groups of creatures are met at a time. Three elves, three dark elves, seven crouched figures, a lone rat or five goblins.

With all the death and terror and desperation that abound in this world, while also trying to memorise the long spell list, you will feel a sense of depression. This is where YOU, as and adventurer, must show courage and resilience. Enlighten this world by retrieving the Crown of Kings from the evil Archmage and you will have made a difference towards peace across the world.

Following on the same theme, another series of books which was also illustrated by John Blanche. They bear the same hallmarks but this time set in a different world. A world of adventure casting opposite warriors who must work together to vanquish evil. That series is Double Game.

Double Game

I did not read all of the books in this series but I will here talk about the general concepts and why I like it or dislike it. The books were written by Simon Farrell, Jon Sutherland, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. First, for those six books, the Pros and Cons:

Pros

• More artwork by John Blanche sets the tone (again)
• Unique and original adventures
• Uses the double play mechanic where you control two characters
• The character sheet is decent and allow for various items and magic powers

Cons

• More difficult than the average adventure

In this series, as is evident here, light and darkness are opposed. Order and chaos. This foul double play is what gave the entire series a taste of its own. The illustrations by John Blanche also add to the tone.

Notice that the classes are as follows: Fighter, Magician, Prince, Thief, Sorcerer, Knight.

I have only read Issel le Guerrier, in French amongst those books. It was not memorable but still enjoyable. The fact that you are a fighter but can still use magic is nice. The cover artwork from this series was part of the inspiration for much of my creativity.

The book's official titles, in order:

1. Issel le Guerrier
2. Darian le Magicien (Darian, Master Magician)
3. Coréus le Prince
4. Bardik le Voleur
5. Clovis le Chevalier
6. Lothar le Sorcier

Again, as I said, the books are filled with inspirational illustrations. I have only included a small set here. Feel free to seek out John Blanche's art online and also to seek out those books, which have been re-edited around the year 2000.

Thanks for reading!